Fire Blatantly Crude Columnist Rosie DiManno

On April 9th, 2013, Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno wrote a column that openly mocked a male victim of sexual assault. Instead of doing any real journalism about the horrible actions of four women who drove a teenager to an abandoned parking lot and assaulted him, DiManno chose to write a crude column laden with jokes about how hilarious it is that the perpetrators were women and the victim was a man. This is not the first time DiManno has been wholly cavalier in her coverage of sexual assault. In January when reporting on a case in which an unconscious woman awoke from surgery to find the doctor sexually assaulting her, DiManno's coverage was equally disgusting. The Star chose to go to bat for her, and the result is more of the same. Enough is enough: fire Rosie DiManno.

Letter to

Bureau of Accuracy/Public EditorThe Toronto Star

PublisherJohn D. Cruickshank

It's time to take Rosie DiManno off the payroll. How many rape victims must be mocked in your paper for you to admit that this behavior is inappropriate? As Canada and the world mourns for Rehtaeh Parsons, and the countless others like her who are assaulted and mocked, it is completely inappropriate to continue to employ someone who has a pattern of mocking victims of sexual assault.Think seriously about whether or not this is truly the way you want your publication to be represented. The victim who became the butt of the joke in Ms. DiManno's April 9th column deserves better, as do all rape victims, and as do all your readers.